About this article: I came from Canakkale to New Jersey and made some really big shopping mistakes in my first year. Wrong store, wrong brand, wrong strategy. I am telling you all of this so you don't have to go through the same thing.
The Costco Encounter: From the Farmer's Market to the Warehouse
Growing up in Canakkale, shopping had a natural rhythm: go to the pazar, the vendor knows you, if there are no tomatoes you pick up a few things for breakfast anyway, and you go home. Everything measured, everything familiar.
My first week in New Jersey, a friend took me to Costco. I walked in. I stopped. Inside my head I said "what is this" but on the outside I showed nothing because Turkish people do not show when they are shocked. But if I did, my jaw would have been on the floor.
48-pack eggs. 6 kilos of olive oil. Toilet paper wrapped in three layers of packaging, you need a second room just to store it. It took me 3 months to understand the logic of Costco.
Mistake #1: I bought $200 worth of stuff on my first visit. Returned half of it. Before buying at Costco, learn the return policy: you can return almost everything, that is a huge advantage. But start with small purchases first, figure out what you actually need.
The Start of Amazon Box Addiction
Of course online shopping existed in Canakkale too, but Amazon's speed is a different thing. I pressed the "delivery by 8pm tomorrow" button and it actually showed up at my door the next day. The first week I discovered this feature, I received 11 packages.
4 of those 11 packages were unnecessary. I returned one, the others are still sitting in a drawer.
The most important thing I learned shopping on Amazon: the 48-hour rule. I add to cart, I wait 48 hours. If I still want it, I buy it. After this rule, my unnecessary spending dropped by sixty percent. Yes, I calculated.
Lessons Earned from the Walmart Adventure
In my mind I was comparing Walmart to the big supermarkets in Turkey. That was wrong.
Walmart is cheap but not everything is cheap. Buying the Walmart version of a famous brand is sometimes money saved, sometimes quality lost. Here is what I learned: Walmart is great for consumables, be careful with electronics.
Things I bought from Walmart and did not regret: paper towels, cleaning products, canned goods, appliance accessories, kitchen foil. Things I bought from Walmart and sent back: cheap headphones, a cucumber they called "organic", a weird plastic shelf system.
Finding a Turkish Grocery Store: The Biggest Victory
When I searched for Turkish grocery stores in New Jersey, I found very little information online. I finally learned from a WhatsApp group: there is Turkuaz Market in Edison, NJ. I still remember that day.
When I walked in, I saw Caykur tea, Marmarabirlik olives, Tahsildaroglu cheese and I got emotional for a second. I don't tell anyone but let me tell you: seeing something familiar in a foreign country hits you in a way you don't expect.
To find a Turkish grocery in your city: Search Google Maps for "Turkish grocery" or "halal market". Edison, NJ; Paterson, NJ; Queens, NY; the Rogers Park neighborhood in Chicago; Houston, Texas are good starting points. If there is none near you, most basic Turkish products are on Amazon, check my other articles for links.
When to Get a Costco Membership
I did not get a Costco membership the first year. I got one at the beginning of the second year and let me say this: not getting it the first year was a math mistake.
If you go to Costco once a week, the $65/year basic membership pays for itself in the first 2-3 months. I tested this number with my own shopping: with olive oil, toilet paper, oatmeal, and gas from Costco, I save over $200 per year.
But a warning: do not go to Costco hungry. The rotisserie chicken smell is very sneaky. You fill your cart with the "well I am already here" logic.
Final Words
Going from Canakkale to New Jersey, from the pazar to Costco, is not easy. But you can learn it. I learned, you will learn too. That is exactly why this site exists: so you don't make the same mistakes I did.
Some Amazon links in this article are affiliate links. Your price doesn't change. I only recommend products I actually use or have personally tested.
